


Perfect. - One-shot

by raccodactyl



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, F/M, First Kiss, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, body issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-25 17:23:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18579091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raccodactyl/pseuds/raccodactyl
Summary: Arthur helps to comfort an insecure reader. (Gender Neutral Reader)Requests:  could you do a thing with either dutch charles or arthur comforting their girlfriend who is ridiculously insecure (like straight up can’t even look in a mirror or at her body without getting physically ill and even involuntarily puking bc too relatable) and making her feel better about herself? just pure angst and fluff? i love all your stuff btw!i’m a sad bitch today:( can we get some soft arthur x fem s/o with some body praise and him telling her how much he loves her and her face and body and how beautiful she is even though she doesn’t love herself?





	Perfect. - One-shot

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on tumblr 6 February

You sat alone in your tent, knees against your chest. It had been a rough few days for you and you couldn’t figure out why. You just didn’t feel great. You could barely get up in the morning, avoided mirrors at all costs, and found yourself interacting with the gang less and less. You just couldn’t get out of your own head.

You described around in your notebook, doodling little pictures in an attempt to distract yourself from the negative thoughts that loomed in your mind. It was nothing more than simple landscapes or little cartoons, but it made you feel a little better, at least for that moment.

Your silence was interrupted when a hand slipped through the flap of your tent. It grabbed at the make-shift door before a familiar voice greeted you softly, “Mind if I come in?”

“Come on,” you said, trying to greet him with the biggest smile you could muster.

Arthur crept in, taking off his hat and pressing it to his chest. “Can I sit down?”

“Of course,” you scooted over and patted the spot next to you.

You sat with your legs criss-crossed underneath you and he plopped down, knee barely hitting yours. “What’cha got there,” he asked, motioning your journal.

You shook your head “It’s nothing really. Just something to get my mind off things.”

“Would you be okay if I took a look,” he asked, sounding genuine.

You handed your book over to him and he searched through it, pressing his fingers gently along the pages as you looked over. You looked at his facial expressions and a little smile came over his face. You and Arthur were fairly close. You enjoyed talking to him and occasionally he would pop into your tent to say hello and have a chat. You were comfortable around him, but today you just wanted to curl into a ball.

He placed his hand on your shoulder and you flinched slightly at his touch. It didn’t feel right today and the voice in your head kept telling you that you weren’t enough, like you didn’t deserve his touch.

“These are really good,” he smiled, his thumb gently caressing you. “I like them, a lot.”

“They’re nothing special,” you attempted to shut him down.

“But you made them.”

He turned to face you fully now, placing your journal near you but out of his hands. He looked up at you, his brow furrowed, “What’s going on with you today?”

You were taken aback by his question, was it really that obvious?

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re off,” he said flatly but his tone gentle. “Be honest with me. Are you doing okay?”

You bit your lip and resisted the urge to break. Tears pricked at your eyes, no one had ever taken the time to really ask about you. As much as you resisted, you needed this desperately.

You shook your head, giving out a quiet and shakey “no” before the floodgates opened. You buried your head in your hands and tried to stifle your sobs. This was building up for a while, evident by the fact that a simple question made you break down.

He placed his hand on your back before gently guiding you into him. He held you like a child in his lap, you face buried into his chest as you crawled up into the fetal position. He held you, shushing you and rocking you back and forth.

“It’s alright,” he cooed, “Tell me what’s going on up there.”

You calmed yourself slightly, taking in a deep breath as tears continued to fall down your face. “I just- I don’t like me right now, Arthur.”

He rubbed your back soothingly, bringing you close as he continued to whisper to you.

“I’m a mess,” you sobbed. “I don’t like myself right now and it hurts, Arthur. It all just really hurts and I don’t like feeling like a burden and hell, I’m just wasting your time here.”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that,” he cooed.

He moved you to sit up across from him now, “Can I- Can I touch you,” he asked gently.

You took in another breath before nodding, not really knowing what to expect. He took your hands in his, dropping one briefly to put his finger under your chin, “Look at me.”

You begrudgingly made eye-contact with him, staring back into the blue eyes you thought about a little too much to be considered platonic. His hand dropped from your face to take the hand back in his again.

“Now don’t slap me for saying this,” he started, “but darlin’, you are stunning.”

You could feel the tears want to well up in your eyes again but he continued before you could say anything.

“I know that you’ve been down lately because of all this stuff up here,” he said, motioning up to your head, “But Y/N, I’m here for you. Now follow me, I want to do something.”

He pulled you to stand up, “Now, Arthur, I don-”

“Just come on.”

He brought you to a mirror, thankfully most of the camp was cleared out doing other things, those still at camp were all keeping their distance, enjoying the quiet of the day. He stood behind you, forcing you to look at yourself in the mirror in front of you.

He pushed your hair behind your ear and cautiously put his hands on your waist.”Look at you here he whispered.”

You were tense in his grasp. You wanted to just rest in his arms, let whatever exercise he had planned to just be over with. You wished you could just do this anywhere else. You felt yourself physically wince when you were forced to look at yourself.

“How can you stand there at look at yourself without thinking about how god damn gorgeous you look.”

You were taken aback by his statement. He had never been so direct with affection and it made you feel something you hadn’t before. You placed your hands over his, following his direction and letting him take the lead, no matter how bad you were feeling.

“You are a strong, passionate, stunner of a person. And it pains me to see you all down like this.”

“Arthur, I-”

“I’ve been wanting to say something for a long while,” he turned you to face him now. “I know this isn’t going to fix anything but I just hate seeing you like this.”

You pressed your hands against his chest, staring up into his eyes as he looked down at you. You placed his hands on your waist, “I need this, Arthur. I need you.”

He brushed your hair behind your ear, “Can I do this?”

You just nodded, biting your lip slightly, looking up at him. He placed his hand on your jaw before closing the gap, kissing you softly as it was just what you needed on this very moment. He lips pressed gently against yours, breathing heavily as he took you all in.

You pulled away before burying yourself into his chest once again. You wrapped your arms around him tightly now and he returned, his hand pressing against the back of your head gently as you nuzzled into the crook of his neck, “Thank you.”

He pressed a kiss to your temple, “We’ll keep working on this.”

“What did I do to deserve this-”

“Stop right there,” he said with a light chuckle, “You’re far more than enough darlin’, don’t ever doubt that. You’re just perfect.”

Things weren’t fixed by any means but you felt a little better at that very moment. He meant more to you than you could describe and he knew just what to do, what to say. He was exactly what you needed and you knew this would lead to better things.


End file.
